From The Artists Studio

From The Artists Studio Rockaway Artists Alliance by Susan Hartenstein

“Rooms By The Sea,” By Edward Hopper.

If this is holiday-time, can a Rockaway Artists Alliance Test Your Art Knowledge Quiz be
far behind? Of course not.

Therefore, without beating around the bush, we present for your edification and amusement: the xxth (I’ve lost count, already) Rockaway Artists Alliance Test Your… yada, yada. you know the rest. As always, answers will be in next week’s column.

1. This world-famous Manhattan American art museum, which opened in 1931, displays works from its vast permanent collection on two of the museum’s floors – in the Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Galleries and the Mildred and Herbert Lee Galleries. Works of the artists, who are the answers to the following nine questions, are in that collection. If you can answer them, or a majority of them, you will probably be able to answer this first question i.e. what is the name of this museum?

2. This Russian-born artist (1899-1988) was initially a student of theater, voice and dance. The fluidity of her sculptural construction, the use of more malleable materials like wood, paper and fabric and the feel of stage settings in her wall reliefs reflect these origins. She worked in various media that included sculpture, collage and lithograph. Name her.

3. Philadelphia-born, this artist (1898-1976) is known for his invention of a type of kinetic free-moving sculpture driven by the movement of air. Composed of delicate arcs and spheres suspended by thin wires, they create a sense of weightless, effortless motion. Who was he?

4. A painter and an illustrator for Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and the New York Daily News, he later became a scenic designer. In Europe he sketched for the New Yorker. He recorded Manhattan street life in many mediums and painted two murals in the Washington, D.C. Post Office Building. He lived from 1898 to 1954. What was his name?

5. An American abstract painter (1894-1964), two influences in his paintings were the vibrant tempos of jazz and cubism. His Eggbeater series illustrates his desire to create an art of abstract planes and forms. Name this Philadelphia-born artist.

6. This artist (1912 —) is best known for her abstract and spare grid paintings penciled on monochrome or muted canvases that appear to glow with an interior light. Name this American artist born in Canada.

7. Member of the pop art movement, this Swedish-born artist grossly distorted the size, shape and materials of objects to examine their humor and irony. He is known for soft sculptures that include Soft Hamburger (made of stuffed cloth) and monumental outdoor installations like Lipstick, erected in 1969. Born in 1929, his name is…?

8. Perhaps the artist most associated with this museum, his work has been featured in many Annuals and Biennials and individual retrospective exhibitions. His entire artistic estate was bequeathed to the museum in1970. His paintings speak to an intense sense of loneliness and alienation through use of setting, composition and an extraordinary ability to achieve particular effects of lighting. Name this painter, who lived from 1882 to 1967.

9. Attempting to abstract the pure and contemplative qualities of Eastern art, this artist’s most famous paintings appear all black and consist of the slightest variations in hue. The presence of form can be discerned only upon a very close examination of the works. Born in New York City in 1913, this Minimalist died in 1967. Name him.

10. She briefly was a commercial artist, then studied abstract art and taught art in Texas. Married to Alfred Stieglitz, who made a series of exquisite, intimate photographs of her, most of her works are "close-up" art that are intimate yet abstract revelations of objects that include flowers, sun-bleached skulls and barren, roll ing hills. Name this woman who lived from 1887 to 1986.

A few easy ones and some difficult ones. Blame the woman who told me last time that the questions were too easy.